Call For Papers

​14^th ANNUAL SOCIETY FOR RICOEUR STUDIES CONFERENCE:

Online Version

OCTOBER 6-10, 2020

CALL FOR PAPERS

The Society for Ricoeur Studies is pleased to announce that our 2020 annual conference, “Politics, Religion, and Cultural Hermeneutics,” will continue. After consultation with Society members and the Board of Directors, we have decided not to cancel due to the COVID-19 lockdown, but will instead proceed in an online format. We are also pleased to announce that the SRS keynote speakers are Professor Dan Stiver (Hardin-Simmons University, Texas) and Professor Eileen Brennan (Dublin City University, Ireland).

We welcome submissions that address the conference theme broadly construed: for example, Ricoeur on questions of justice, responsibility, and the “political paradox”; the promise and perils of religious discourse, as well as the critique and retrieval of cultural traditions; and the resources Ricoeur offers for mutual recognition and understanding others in a time of intensifying political and cultural polarization. We welcome submissions that address the influence of Ricoeur’s thought inside and outside of philosophy, in all those disciplines where his work has application.

The new format of the conference opens up new possibilities for a variety of presentations listed below. Many of you will prefer the more standard presentation style where presenters will upload a pre-recorded, 20-minute video of their lecture to YouTube, which other participants will be able to view prior to the conference. Presenters and participants will then assemble for live Q & A sessions during the conference dates. Others may choose to submit proposals for one of the modules we have designed to accommodate the online platform. We are excited about the greater prospects for discussion that the variety of formats will allow.

We welcome submissions in the following formats:

-Individual papers. Please submit an abstract of approximately 300-500 words without any author-identifying information. In your email, please include the paper's title, the author's name, institutional affiliation, mailing address, and email address. Individual papers will be recorded and uploaded to YouTube, viewed prior to the conference, and then briefly presented to the online session for discussion. Please note that finished videos should be no longer than twenty minutes (roughly 3000 words).

-Panel proposals. Please submit a brief description (300-500 words) of the panel topic, the names of the panel members, and, as a separate document, the abstracts for each presentation (300-500 words). Please include the panel's title along with the panel members’ names, institutional affiliations, mailing addresses, and email addresses. Panel presentations will be pre-recorded and uploaded to YouTube, viewed prior to the conference, and then briefly presented to the online session for discussion.

-Book panels on recent monographs or edited volumes focusing on Ricoeur’s thought. Proposals should follow the instructions for regular panel proposals. Online participation will be the same for this format, as well.

-Book discussions of primary texts by Ricoeur. Proposals must identify a moderator, the text selection, and a sketch of guiding questions or talking points for participants, which will be uploaded for view prior to the conference. Participants will then read the text and the talking points prior to the conference. Online, participants will join the moderator who will lead an open, synchronous discussion of the text.

We are also accepting proposals to participate in roundtable discussions on the following themes. If you are interested in moderating, please send in a 300-500 description, much like a paper proposal abstract, related to your expertise on the theme. Introduce three leading questions that you would propose to the participants. These questions will be made available online prior to the conference. For the live portion, moderators will serve as discussion leaders on the theme.

The Pandemic Imagination

Political Leadership in the Time of COVID-19

Meaning in Times of Loss

Social Responsibility

Cultural Hermeneutics: Understanding Survival

Mutual Recognition in Navigating Crisis

Religious Resources in the Face of Ambiguity

New Scholars and Graduate Students Roundtable

New scholars and graduate students are encouraged to send in an abstract (300-500 words) for a panel around the theme of the conference, or any other theme related to the work of Paul Ricoeur. We intend to ask scholars visiting the conference to act as respondents to the papers. Please send the abstracts to Celia Edell (celia.edell@mail.mcgill.ca) no later than June 30, 2020.

Fees

Participation in the conference requires membership in the Society for Ricoeur Studies. Members must be in good standing (i.e. current on their membership fees) to present at the Society’s conference. Membership dues are valid from September 1 to August 31. Members who paid dues at last year’s conference will remain in good standing until August 31, 2020. If your membership dues are not currently up-to-date, you can pay them through PayPal on the Society’s website (http://ricoeursociety.org/). N.B. you do not need to have a PayPal account to pay via PayPal.

For non-presenters who would like to attend the conference but select not to join the Society, we are asking for a $10-$25 dollar donation to the work the Society undertakes. Donations can be made online at: http://www.ricoeursociety.org/give-to-the-society/

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: June 30, 2020.

SEND REGULAR PAPER AND PANEL SUBMISSIONS TO: Dr. Brian Gregor at bgregor@csudh.edu. Abstracts and panel proposals accepted for conference presentations will be published on the Society’s website prior to the conference. If you prefer not to have your submission published there, please inform Brian in your submission email.

SEND NEW SCHOLAR AND GRADUATE STUDENT ROUNDTABLE SUBMISSIONS TO: Celia Edell at celia.edell@mail.mcgill.ca. Abstracts and panel proposals accepted for conference presentations will be published on the Society’s website prior to the conference. If you prefer not to have your submission published there, please inform Celia in your submission email.

Abstracts and panel proposals will be reviewed blind by a committee. Notification of acceptance will be given via email by July 15, 2020.

More specific technological requirements and instructions will be sent out in August.